


Wrath of the Goddess

by raisedbymoogles



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Family, Gen, have fun storming the castle, mama bear ifalna, protective big brother sephiroth, rescue mission incoming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:20:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24048070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raisedbymoogles/pseuds/raisedbymoogles
Summary: The Sector 7 plate has fallen, and Aeris has been taken. Her family will not let this stand.Less a fic than a blueprint for an AU.
Comments: 17
Kudos: 33





	Wrath of the Goddess

Elmyra sank down into the kitchen chair, her breath leaving her slowly along with her resistance. Her wife leaned against her shoulder, quietly offering her strength. “I hoped to never have to tell this story,” Elmyra admitted.

She reached out her hand; Sephiroth took it. “Aeris trusts them, Mom,” he said gently, and Elmyra’s mouth worked in an unwilling smile.

“Do you, sweetheart?” she asked.

Sephiroth glanced up at the three Avalanche members. Tifa had her arms clasped around her, her worry and guilt a mirror for Sephiroth’s own; Barret’s frown was deep as a ravine. Their third was turned away, hiding his glowing eyes from the two older women. Sephiroth tipped his head down and nodded wordlessly - _please, Odin, let this be right. Let these be the people who help me save my sister._

Elmyra squeezed his hand carefully. “…it was sixteen years ago now,” she began. “My husband had been sent to war.”

*

_Dearest Elmyra,_

_I’m writing this in the back of an Army truck, and I know you will scold me about my motion sickness but I don’t care. I can’t wait a moment longer to tell you, even if it’s just on paper: they’ve approved my request for leave! I’m coming home to you!_

_I know, I’m as shocked as you are._

_I’m sure the reason it was approved is that there’s not much fighting here where I’m stationed anymore. All of the action is up [redacted], I hear. Supposedly they’ve got a hell of a soldier up there, a [redacted] who can sweep away entire armies with magic. I know it’s important we win, but I hope the part about [redacted] isn’t true._

_I’m sure it isn’t. He probably just has a young face._

_I miss you so much, my love. But it won’t be too much longer before I see your face again. Let’s take the long way home from the train station, like we used to._

_Love,  
your Daniel_

*

I went to the station every day… but he never came. I suppose his leave just got canceled. 

Still, I couldn’t stop. I thought, the one day I didn’t go, that would be the day he stepped off of that train only to have to walk home without me - or, the day I didn’t go, that would be the day I found out something terrible had happened. I know, it’s silly, but… well. I suppose everyone has their little rituals to cope with things they can’t really change.

Anyway… that’s why I was there that day. That’s how I found them.

*

Shinra were using nonlethal methods to recapture us. They didn’t want to lose their Ancients or damage their perfect weapon. I, however, was under no such restrictions.

And so I grew reckless, and through my magic gave full expression to my rage… I was a fool. I didn’t notice until too late that the platform was weakening underneath us. We fell, and… the woman who freed me, she used her power to shield us both. But - she only had enough power for two.

Somehow we made it to the train station. I was out of magic and at my wits’ end, Aeris was crying, her mom was… smiling. I thought I would be haunted by that smile until the end of my days. …and then, a kind stranger appeared.

*

_“Ma’am! Ma’am please, an ether, do you have an ether!”_

_“What… oh. I think so. Here… is - is your mom all right?”_

_“She_ will _be. I won’t - I won’t let her die!”_

*

That was the moment I knew there was something extraordinary about this boy. The woman had been pale, weak, laboring to breathe and clearly near death… and a bright swirl of light later she was laughing, hugging them both, looking as strong and healthy as I was. It was such an affecting scene that I even found myself laughing and tearing up along with them! So I invited them to come and eat dinner with me, and when I learned they had no place to go, I invited them to stay.

What can I say? I was lonely.

*

Sephiroth had the hardest time of it. I knew what a normal life looked like, and Aeris was young enough that she could adapt to just about anything, but Sephiroth had been raised in a Shinra lab since his infancy and didn’t know how to interact with anyone who wasn’t - who didn’t _want something_ from him. It helped that my Aeris adored him, but if hadn’t been for Elmyra’s straightforward kind of patience… well. She was there for us when we needed her, and I’ll always be grateful.

Aeris blossomed under the Plate, and Sephiroth became her stalwart protector. Seeing them together… it eased my fears, and soothed some painful memories. I suppose I began to blossom too… before I knew it, Elmyra and I were in love.

I thought we could just live together as a family, back then. I wanted to forget the past. But Shinra wouldn’t let us be.

*

_“Sephiroth is officially Shinra property. His place is at Headquarters.”_

_“Try and make me go back, Turk.”_

_“Don’t fight here - you might hurt the flowers!”_

_“Little miss Aeris. I was very much hoping to meet _you_ as well.”_

_“Well, I don’t want to meet _you!_ Go away!”_

_“…you heard my sister.”_

_“Very well. I’ll leave you in peace today.”_

*

“And that’s how it’s been ever since.” Elmyra still had Sephiroth’s hand in hers, her thumb stroking over his faded tattoo. “We’ve managed to hide in plain sight, and the Turks never pushed it too far. I guess even Shinra can’t get away with kidnapping two of the most beloved children in Sector 5.”

“Mom,” Sephiroth muttered, ducking his head away from her brittle smile.

“…until today,” Tifa put forward softly. “I’m so sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry.” Barret lowered his head. “I owe your daughter a hell of a debt, ma’ams. I aim to see it repaid.”

Elmyra looked up, shocked; but Tifa was already nodding, finding her resolve in Barret’s eyes. “I’m going too.”

Their third huffed a breath that may have started life as a laugh at one point. “Oh, good. ‘Cause I was gonna go storm the castle whatever anyone said,” Zack announced with a cracked grin, “but it’d be a lot easier _with_ the three of you.”

“Four,” Sephiroth countered, lifting himself to his feet. “The four of us can-”

“…five.”

Elmyra, already opening her mouth to protest Sephiroth’s determination, was rendered speechless once more as her wife rose from the table. “Ifalna…”

Ifalna leaned over her, caressed her cheek. “I’m not leaving my baby in there,” she said, and her audience might have called her voice _gentle_ but for the steel under the softness. “And I’m not letting my other baby walk _back_ in there, not without me. Hojo killed my husband,” she said, and now she was _all_ steel, a quiet goddess of vengeance. “He stole six years of Aeris’s life. He stole Seph’s _entire childhood_. I love you, sweetheart, but I will not stand by and watch it all happen again.”

Elmyra seized her hand, as if she could prevent Ifalna going by main force. “I already watched Aeris walk out of here with that man,” she begged, voice cracking. “Don’t make me lose all of my family in one night. Don’t.”

“Oh, ‘Myra.” Ifalna bent to hug her fiercely, and when Sephiroth lingered shyly at the edge of the hug, she pulled him in too.

“You won’t lose us,” he promised, bending his cheek to Elmyra’s hair, as fierce as both of his mothers. “I won’t allow it.”

That brought a fresh spring of tears to Elmyra’s eyes, and she turned her face to his shoulder until she had mastered herself once more. “My Seph,” she rasped, voice thick with the tears she’d managed to swallow. “Always so sure you can shape the world to your will.”

She let them both go, then, in what they all recognized as an act of courage equal to to that of Aeris’s stepping into the chopper with Tseng. “Go, then,” she told them. “But when you have Aeris, don’t bring her back here. I’m taking Marlene and leaving, tonight.”

“Leaving?” Barret protested, but Ifalna was already nodding, moving to stand at her son’s side.

“Shinra killed hundreds of people tonight, merely to - to make a scene and stamp out a few terrorists,” she told Barret seriously. “I know it would ease your mind to know that Marlene is here and safe, but it’s _not_ safe here anymore. Nowhere in Midgar is safe.”

Barret, to his credit, only bared his teeth at the far wall a moment before acquiescing. “Where?” he managed.

“Kalm - small town to the northwest,” Elmyra clarified. “I have family there. If we’re not at the inn, I’ll leave word with the front desk where we are.” She stood to face him, her tears dry salt tracks on her cheeks, her mouth set, carefully not letting her gaze drift to either Ifalna nor Sephiroth lest her fragile control break again. “I’ll protect your baby, you have my word. Now _you protect my family.”_

“…yes ma’am,” Barret answered, all he could say.

“We won’t let you down,” Tifa echoed.

“Guess we’re storming the castle together after all,” Zack grinned, holding his hand out to Sephiroth. The older man eyed him dubiously, but Zack didn’t waver; at length, Sephiroth sighed and slapped his palm into Zack’s, allowing Zack to pull him into ‘their secret handshake’. Funny how the secret handshake never went the same way twice.


End file.
